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"On paper these were strong selling points.."

I don't think this is a good example. Shoe "technology" is bullshit. The technology doesn't even look good on paper because everyone knows it's just stuff that's used to justify the bloated price of Nike runners. Aesthetics and build quality are all people want from shoes.

Now for technology - not just software - most people don't have a good way to judge all the stuff they don't understand. So features work as a selling point. Nobody wants to spend money on something that may turn out to be not good enough later. Feature lists tap into that fear/purchase hesitation.




for the end user, software technology is worth as much as for shoes. Do you think people would like Basecamp or X app less if it was build using Django instead of Rails? Or people would leave Facebook for MySpace if they'd integrate Cassandra?


No, but people did leave Friendster and Myspace for Facebook because the sites ran like crap and would try to put viruses on your computer.


They did run like crap, but most people left Myspace for Facebook for one of two reasons; 1) Facebook was cleaner, and 2) Facebook was used by high status people (started with Ivy League students).




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